Stringed musical instrument



June 28, 1932. V G. GUIBEAUD 1,864,690

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 17, 1929 Patented June 28, 1932 GEORGES GUIBEAUD, OF IEBPIGNAN, FRANCE STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Application filed May 17, 1929, Serial No. 363,790, and in France May 24, 1928.

My invention relates to a new method of controlling the sound modulations in musical instruments which is essentially characterized by the use of elastic means that is of a part which may be returned elastically to its position of rest, said part being actuated by contractile movements of the hand in such a manner that the pitch of the sound rises with the force of the contraction.

The above device may consist also in a lever pivoted upon a shaft secured in a carrier formed in one with the neck (stringed instruments) said lever being returned to its inoperative position, away from the neclgby the sound emitting devices or by means of a spring.

My invention will be hereinafter described in its application to stringed instruments in which according to the above stated principle, the lever as it is drawn closer to the neck of the instrument by the contraction of the hand, increases the tension on the strings or shortens their vibrating portion or else produces both effects simultaneously according to the mode of assembling which has been adopted.

The appended drawing shows diagrammatically by way of examples several modes of construction of stringed instruments according to my invention.

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal diagram of a first type of one-stringed apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a view showing another type of apparatus in which the tension and the vibrating length of the strings are modified simultaneously.

Fig. 3 shows a modified form of same.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are plan views represent ing three tuning devices.

In the simplified modeof execution shown in Fig. 1. the instrument comprises a neck 1 connected at one end to a sound box 2 and carrying at its other end a bracket 3 made of two cheeks placed in parallel. A bell-crank lever 5. an arm 5 of which is directed towards the neck of the instrument is rotatably mounted between said cheeks upon a shaft 4-.

A string 6 is secured on the one part to the end of the arm 5 and on the otherpart to the sound box. A bridge 7 is string and the sound board. 1

The string is first stretched by means of a suitable stretching device (not shown) operating at one of its connecting points in such a manner that it vibrates at its lower tone when the lever is in its end position.

As the palm of the hand and the thumb support the neck of the instrument in the same manner as when playing the violin, the ends of the longest fingers surround the lever and cause it to approach more or lessthe neck of the instrument according as the hand is more or less strongly contracted. The stronger contraction of the hand the higher is the sound given forth by the string. The vibrations of the string are produced by any well known means. V

The playerbeing guided by the continuous modulation of the sound incompletely damped that lengthens every note causes the next note to be emitted at the instant when the sound reaches the desired pitch.

In fact the contractions of the hand are dictated by the musical teaching of the muscles of the throat and of the mouth which contract in a similar manner to modulate the song of the human voice. They very soon become intuitive.

The compass of such an instrument is very limited.

In order to remedy this defect, a device capable of shortening the vibrating portion of the strings and of increasing their tension is used in combination with the device which has just been described. The instrument may comprise several such devices as will be further described.

The modulation of the sound is produced by the two said devices in a proportion depending upon the qualities required of the instrument.

The' tension of the strings may even be kept constant, the pitch of the sound being in that case controlled solely by the modificationof the vibrating length. The elastic reaction which tends to raise the lever is produced in that case by means of a spring.

The device designed to shorten the vibrating portion of the stringsthrough lowering placed between the of the lever, may be constructed in various manners and for example as follows:

In the mode of execution shown in Fig. 2 the movements along the handle of a carrier 11 upon which the strings are supported by means of pulleys are controlled in the proper directionthrough a bell-crank lever by the intermediary of connecting rods 8, 9,510.

The vibrating portion of the strings is limited by the carriage and the bridge.

The strings of the instrument may also be supported by a flexible blade 12 as will be seen in Fig. 3, said blade-being secured at each end to parts 13, 14: -rotatingaround 15 shafts 15,16 carried upon the neck of the in- .strument. -Said parts being connected together by means .of a connecting rod 17 are .ia'ctuated simultaneously by: the lever 5 insuch a manner. that the successive distortions of the blade 12 cause the passageunder :the

.strings of a' solid wave.

Theinstrument may be provided with two strings in order'toincrease the volume of the sound :and the quality of its tone. It will Athenbe advantageous in order to facilitate lthet playing of the instrument to maintain unison between the strings.

Theimeanswhich are used to keep a given .accordbetween the strings and more espe- .cially unison, differ according as the vibratsing lengths of the strings may be determined .inany givenratio or on the contrary must remain equal.

.@The firstv means may be applied wl1en-the 1 5 -.--length ofthe vibrating portion of the strings .is independent of the movements of thelever, that istosaywhen thelatter. acts only upon the tension iofithestrings. In that case. both sstrings stretchedto equal lengths are secured .-;4o.-.to the end 'of. a screw rod '18 .as showrrin 1 Eign 4.

The tractive motion of the lever, .acts in the. direction of thearrow fupon a nut which is moved along the rod 18 by .meansof aknob 1'19. v. Ihehposition of. the nut is. determined in such a manner as to distribute the traction .aof the leverxamong the strings in the ratio at .--.\Vl1l0ll their elongation remains equal.

-- Considering that .the vibrating portions of .150 the-stringdimited on the one part bythe We In that-case a single string is folded upon itself around the pulley and its ends are secured to the same stretcher. The tone of the two sides of the string is made different by making one of them heavier by coiling a fine metal wire around same.

The relation between the lengthenings which is thermost advantageousis. approximately a constant ratioprovidedthat a certain limit of utilization of the strings is observed.

'Themeans which are employed allow of regulating the accord precisely for end positions of thelever, the arrangement of the parts cause the lengthening ratio to vary between said end positions according to a lawwhich is approximately the best.

. lntherexample shown in Fig. 5, one of the strings is tied to a .part 20-which being drawn bythe lever slides between straight guides in the direction of the arrow f, the other string 35 being attachedto a part 21 rotating around a shaft 22 carried-by the part 20.

The rotation of the part, 21 when drawn by the string is limited by a part 23 pivoted upon a shaft 24 secured to theinstrument. Themc position of the part 23,around its,axis ,ofro- 'tation is adjusted by means of the screw 25.

The desired. accord. is first regulated by separate tension of the strings in the position shown in Fig. 5'adjacenttothat of mini-1.. mum tension' The portion of the part23 P which is thenin contact with the part 21 forming. an arc concentric tothestationar pivot, the rotation of the part23. does not a fectthe accord. IThe lever is,then lowered: nearly to the end of itsstroke. The accord whichis generally broken-is again produced by adjustingthe position of part 23 which acts upon part 21.

provided upon the neck of the instrument asmllo will be seen in Fig. 6. The strings areattached the one, directly to the part 26and the -.other to anut 28 1noving along a screwthreaded rod 29 carried upon the part 26 which is drawnby the lever in the direction of the arrow f \Vhen the screwthreaded rod is perpendicular to the direction of the st rings,.the slight displacements ;of thenut '28 do not greatly affect the tension of the string which i is tied to it. In that position the strings are tuned by means of separate tensions to a tone approaching the limit of the compass of the instrument.

The part 26 is then caused to rotate to a "3,115 position corresponding to the opposite limit. The accord is'again produced by rotating-the screw in order to move the nut.

The pivotal points of the part-26 and the connecting pointsof the strings are-deteri.

mined in such a manner as to suitably modify the ratio of the lengthenings during the rotation of same. To this end the string which is secured to the part 26 may pass upon a part 30 shown in dotted lines the profile of which combined with the rotation of part 26 adjust the distance of the string from the pivot.

The strings are at first stretched by means of known devices carried by the modulating lever, the tone rectifying device, the sounding board or the neck of the instrument. In the latter case, the string runs upon a pulley, when the tone rectifying device is of the type shown at 20, the string may be connected to the stretching device through a passage formed in the axis of the stationary pivot.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letter Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a stringed musical instrument of means thereon to which one end of a string is connected, and means 0perable by the aforesaid means to slide along the string and simultaneously change the effective length of the string in accordance with the tension produced on the string.

2. The combination with a stringed musical instrument having a body, a neck attached at one end thereto, a tail piece and bridge; of a manually operated lever mounted on the other end of the neck and to which one end of a string is secured, the string passing over said bridge and connected to the tail piece, the manipulation of the lever during the playing operation producing different tones.

3. The combination with a stringed musical instrument having a body, a neck attached at one end thereto, a tail piece and bridge; of a manually operated lever mounted on the other end of the neck and to which one end of a string is secured, the string passing over said bridge and connected to the tail piece, the manipulation of the lever during the playing operation producing different tones, and a spring to return the lever to its initial position when released for producing the lowermost tone for the string.

4. The combination with a stringed musical instrument of a pivoted lever to which one end of a string is attached, two pivoted members below the string, means connecting the members to cause simultaneous pivotal movement thereof, a bent spring connected between the members and resting underneath the string and motion transmitting means connecting the lever and one of the members to cause said spring to shorten the effective length of the string, said spring restoring the parts to initial position when pressure on the lever is released.

5. In a stringed musical instrument, a manually operated lever pivoted to the instrument, an equalizing member connected to the lever, a plurality of strings connected at one end with said member, said lever being manipulated to simultaneously change the tension of the strings during the playing operation, and means on the equalizing member to change the relative tension of the strings connected to the members.

6. In a stringed musical instrument, a deaforesaid lever and said part in order that the latter as it moves shortens the vibrating length of the strings when their tension increases under the action of the lever, the distance between said lever and the neck of the instrument being the greater under the tension of the strings and corresponding to the lower limit of the compass of the instrument.

7. In a stringed musical instrument, a pivoted lever in a plane in parallel with the neck of the instrument, a shaft for said lever and a support integral with the neck for said shaft, a screw, two strings, one tied to each end of said screw, an adjustable nut upon said screw, an extension upon the aforesaid lever beyond its axis of rotation and a rigid connection between said extension and the nut whereby the latter is moved in the direction to increase the tension of both strings upon movements of the lever towards the neck.

8. In a stringed musical instrument, a pivoted lever, a shaft for said lever and a support for the shaft on the end of the neck of the instrument, a movable part placed under the strings to alter their vibrating length said part being connected to the lever in such a manner that when the latter moves towards the neck the vibrating length of the strings decreases, a longitudinally moving part upon which a first string is secured, a guide for said part, a second part for securing a second string, an axis of rotation for said second part carried upon the first, a connection between the first part and the aforesaid lever and an adjustable cam against the circumference of which the second part presses to maintain a predetermined continuous accord between the two strings in every position of the lever.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name.

GEORGES GUIBEAUD. 

